Betty Cid is NOT part of  Flamenco Pasión.

Over the past month or so there have suddenly been a large number of articles posted on the web which make a a variety of claims about a dancer called Betty Cid, and that appear to be using content taken directly from my own website.

I must stress that Betty Cid is NOT part of Flamenco Pasión or Sonido Flamenco, and has never been a member of any of my flamenco groups.

Interestingly, according to these various “articles” and “announcements”, Betty Cid has performed at the Commonwealth Institute, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall – the exact same venues detailed on my own biography page.

I cannot comment on all the other various claims made in these articles (and on her own websites), but I have been reliably informed (by one of her fellow students in fact)  that part of the video footage currently on her site is actually of a class run by La Escuela de Baile last year…where she was taking part as a student.  Betty Cid is certainly not a regular performer at the Phoenix Club as far as I am aware, and I am also having difficulty tracing the other groups and shows mentioned in her biography.

If Betty Cid really does wish to be part of Flamenco Pasión or Sonido Flamenco …then she is very welcome to bring her “winsome smile” along, and have an audition!

Sandra

Sandra La Espuelita

Technorati Tags: betty cid, flamenco, flamenco London, flamenco dance, flamenco dancers, flamenco dancing

I am going to excuse myself a bit of self-promotion here! Some of you may know that I do make traditional flamenco skirts in small quantities. These are of high quality, extremely durable, and aimed at the professional dancer and dedicated amateur, with a range of lightweight models which are ideal for practicing. There are both adults and children’s flamenco skirts available, in a good range of colours and styles.

Each skirt is hand-made to measure, and takes around a week to make. For anyone who may be interested, please visit my flamenco skirt shop for details on models and prices.

Last weekend I had a great time working with a group of flamenco guitarists taking a series of workshops from Francisco Antonio organised by  the Peña de Londres. They had been studying Solea for a few weeks and were ready to apply their skills and accompany a dancer for the first time. Tony and I took them through the basics of the discussions that dancer and guitarist would normally have at the outset – how many letras (verses); how the entrada (entrance; opening) would lead into the llamada (call) for the singer; where the escobilla (specific footwork section) would be positioned; how to transition into the bulerias and so on. We then went on and all performed solea together – with a very satisfying result!

It made me remember what a minefield it can feel like when you first pluck up courage to take what you have been learning and try to fit in it with other dancers, guitarists and singers without descending into complete chaos. Unless you work together for a while and rehearse regularly to a very specific routine, you will always need to be able to ask the right questions and pick up the right signals (those of you who know me will know how much I hate over-rehearsed “formation flamenco” that follows the same path every time – but more of that on a separate post……)  and perhaps the following tips will help all you rookie guitarists: more…

Here are seven tracks you can practice Flamenco Tangos to on guitar without spending tons of cash on practice CD’s.

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I get a lot of enquiries from people looking for good flamenco classes across the UK and always pass on details when I can.  There seem to be pockets of interest all over the place, which is great – my dream is to learn of an equivalent Morris Dancing Class somewhere in Spain…..

Let me know if you go to or have heard of a good Flamenco class near you – who the teacher is and what its like.

Technorati Tags: flamenco classes, flamenco teachers

For those of you using a flamenco fan as part of your dance choreography, heed the following (taken from a sheet of paper passed to me by a student – I do not know where it came from originally). I am not sure how you could be certain that the right person received your message – nor how many people I have mistakenly agreed to marry in the past:

Fans have been used to convey messages during times when the strict rules of behavious did not permit conversation to take place freely. The first organised fan language appeared in Spain, which consisted of 55 movements to correspond with certain meanings. This was later translated into English but reduced to 33 coded signs: more…

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This uses Jeroen’s FLV Player to call the cine player, and only loads content when the user clicks the image. The video itself shows Sandra La Espuelita hosting a flamenco workshop and demonstration in 2007. The guitarist is Francisco Antonio.

During the whole of my time in flamenco (learning, performing and teaching) I have looked for a fool-proof method of writing some of the steps down. Nothing doing. I have managed to put down the steps to the sevillanas that I teach in a way that others seem to understand (…..it looks terrifying on paper!), but have never been able to capture the real complexity of flamenco dance steps and movements, an ex-student devised a magnificent spreadsheet on his computer that showed front, back, diagonal, toe, full foot, heel dig, heel drop, and even a further line for arms.

Magnificent it was, but incomprehensible to anyone else!

I have a sheet of paper that has the scribbled mumblings of the first dance that I ever learned in Spain.  It was a wonderful caña, of which I remember almost nothing and which I would love to rediscover.  No chance with my notes – they clearly meant something at the time, but not now.

What do others do?  Perhaps I have been superceded with modern technology now, and you all just record onto your mobile phones?

Technorati Tags: flamenco, flamenco teaching, flamenco performing, flamenco dance, dance steps